Learning to Breathe
by anewhope
Summary: Alternate Universe. Brooke finds herself facing everyone's worst nightmare, and she learns that the only person she can trust is the one person she never turned to before. Pairings: BrookeLucas, NathanHaley, PeytonJake.
1. Don't You Know Who I Think I Am?

Alternate Universe (starting in season 3). Brooke and Lucas never dated in season 1; Peyton and Lucas were together instead (from episode 1.09) until she connects with Jake. The kiss between Brooke and Lucas in 2.23 never occurred. However, that doesn't mean Lucas never developed feelings for her. Because this is an alternate universe, I will not be including the fire at the dealership or Ellie (for now, anyway). Another note: during the summer, Haley stayed with Lucas. I'm not really sure where she stayed in the show, so I made it up. Ships: Nathan/Haley; Brooke/Lucas; Peyton/Jake (if I can get him to stay put in Tree Hill for longer than a week)

Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill or any of its characters; I also don't own the title of this story. I stole that from Switchfoot. Bonus points for anyone who can name the artist(s) who have recorded the song that the chapter title is taken from.

Chapter 1: Don't You Know Who I Think I Am?

Brooke Davis hummed happily as she walked through the New Brunswick airport, her purse swinging beside her.

"Brooke!"

She grinned as her best friend materialized next to her. Peyton Sawyer, thankfully, was still the same girl she'd been in June, except—

"Nice hair cut," Brooke said, throwing her arms around the blonde-haired girl. After a few seconds, she stepped back to survey Peyton with a critical eye. "How's Tree Hill been without me?"  
"Brooke, I called you every other day," she answered as the two girls started to walk to the exit. "Nothing happened without me telling you about it."

"Something might have happened in the _6 hours_ I was on the plane,"  
Brooke retorted, slipping on her sunglasses and surveying the line of cars that stretched out in front of the airport. "Oh, that's us."

"Well, don't worry, it's been boring as hell without you. Lucas is the only one that's kept me company. Nathan hasn't gotten back yet from High Flyers, although it's not like he'd be that entertaining."

"I notice you didn't mention a certain former musical artist we both know and love," Brooke remarked after a minute of silence.

"That's because I really couldn't care less about her!"

"We all make mistakes, you know," she replied in a softer voice. "Haley deserves a second chance."

Peyton refused to answer, and the rest of the car ride was spent in silence.

Ten minutes later, the car pulled up to Brooke's old room at Lucas's.

"Listen, I'm going to go try and find Nathan. He's coming home today. But we'll stop by later, okay?"

"I'll see you later," Brooke said, rifling through her purse for her keys. "Do you know if Lucas is home?"

"I think he's at the River Court."

"Oh, okay," she replied, fighting down an unexpected wave of disappointment. Pulling her bags along behind her, she fit the key into the lock and pushed the door open.

Home sweet home.

"Luke!"

Lucas Scott turned to find Peyton Sawyer standing at the edge of the River Court, looking unusually excited.

"Hey, Peyton," he replied, dribbling the basketball over to her. "What's up?"

"What's up? Brooke's home!"

He took a second to make sure none of the excitement that had suddenly invaded his system made itself obvious. "That's great."

"Luke, don't be an idiot this time, okay?" Peyton said, putting her hands on her hips.

"What are you talking about?"

"I know you care about her. I know you have feelings for her! Why are you avoiding her like the plague? She's here, Lucas. In Tree Hill. So what the hell are you doing hiding out here?"

"Peyton…"

"No," she said stubbornly, yanking on his arm. "You're going to go see her, right now."

"Hey!" he exclaimed, tugging his arm away from her. "God, Peyton. You can't just—just go up to somebody and tell her you love her."

"Well, you'd better figure something out, and soon," she replied. "Why don't you just go over and say hi? Welcome home? Anything at all. Seriously."

He tucked the basketball under his arm and looked at her. "All right. Fine."

Brooke smiled as she sorted through the pictures from her summer in California. David…Bryan…Scott…

She reached the end of the stack and sighed. The guys she'd met had been great, but none of them were _right_ for her. She felt like she'd been looking for something the three months she'd been away, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. Which had made the end of summer all the more frustrating, because she'd wasted three months away from Tree Hill and hadn't gotten any closer to finding out what she wanted.

A tentative knock sounded on the door to her room, and she quickly shoved the pictures in a drawer.

"Come in!"

Lucas Scott walked in, and for some reason, she'd never been happier to see him.

"Luke!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him. "It's so great to see you."

"Welcome back," he murmured into her hair before pulling away. "How was California?"  
"Great," she lied, sitting down on her bed. "How's Tree Hill been?"  
"Not the same without you," he replied, smiling at her. Her heart skipped a beat, and she looked away from him.

"So…Haley's back, huh?"

"Yeah. It'd be great if she weren't heartbroken."

"Luke…I know you want to fix everything," she said, turning to face him. "And, trust me, we all want Nathan and Haley back together. But…you've got to let them work it out by themselves. If you try to push it, they'll fall apart."

"Brooke, if I don't talk to Nathan, he'll never try again with Haley. You know him."

"Yeah, I do. He's just as stubborn as you are. Just—promise me you won't interfere."

He didn't answer.

"Luke," she said softly, laying her hand on his shoulder. "Please."

"Fine," he muttered, standing up. "Great to have you back, Brooke."

She winced as the door slammed shut.

"Did you talk to Brooke?"

"Yeah, Peyton," Lucas answered, dribbling the ball before lining up for a shot. "I talked to her."

"Well?" she asked, grabbing the basketball as it swished through the hoop. "What happened?"

"She told me to keep my big, fat nose out of Nathan and Haley's business," he snapped.

"Well, you do have a—"

"Trust me, I heard it all from her."

"Just because she's looking out for her friend doesn't mean she doesn't care about you, Luke."

"She's looking out for both of them, Peyton," he said sharply, looking her in the eye.

"Look, I just don't want you to think that she doesn't care about you because she asked you not to interfere."

"Why can't you just come to terms with it?" Lucas asked. "She doesn't have feelings for me, Peyton. She never has. And, judging from the conversation we just had, she never will."

"Luke…will you just listen to me? For a second?" Peyton said plaintively, crossing the court to stand in front of him. He shoved his arms in his pockets, but didn't walk away.

"Jake was…is the most important person in my life. I regret a lot of things—waiting so long to tell him how I felt, not being able to protect him from Nikki, having to say goodbye—but I never regretted being honest with him. I don't want you to look back and wish that you'd come clean with Brooke, you know? I lost Jake, but you don't have to lose Brooke. I don't _want_ that for you."

"I know what you're trying to do, and I appreciate it. I do. But let's face it. She doesn't see me that way."

"And she won't. Not unless you show her the guy you want her to see."

Peyton gave Lucas one last look before walking away, hoping that she'd gotten through to him.


	2. Down On My Head

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter 1. It still stands, as I'm still holed up in a dorm room that's approximately four feet squared. With no heat.

A/N: Thanks so much for the feedback, guys, I really appreciate it. Keep on truckin'.

Chapter 2: Down On My Head

"Morning, P. Sawyer!"  
Peyton groaned and buried her head underneath her pillows. "Go away, Brooke."  
"Not a chance," her best friend crowed. Peyton could hear her records being searched through and finally opened her eyes, squinting at Brooke.  
"It's way too early for you, you know that?"  
"Have you forgotten already?" Brooke asked, putting a hand on her hip. "Tomorrow night is only the biggest party of the summer!"  
The blonde-haired girl sighed and sat up, brushing a few curls out of her eyes. "Oh yeah."  
"Judging from our correspondence over the summer, _you_, my friend, have done almost nothing for the past three months. But don't worry. That's all about to change."  
She rolled her eyes. "Brooke, what are you doing here again?"  
"Hello?!" Brooke exclaimed. "Were you listening to anything I just said? I can't set up for the party myself. I need some help. Get up!"  
"Oh, _no_," Peyton said vehemently, flopping back down on her bed. "Go hire some other minion."  
"Peyton," she whined. "Who else will help me?"  
"Lucas," Peyton suggested suddenly, turning over to hide her smile. "Go ask him."  
"You really think he'd help?  
"Ask and find out. And in the meantime, please leave me alone."

Brooke tensed apprehensively as she raised her hand to knock on Lucas's door. In just a few months, everything had changed. Before she left for California, she would have waltzed in. After all, it had been her room. But now she'd moved out, he'd moved back in, and she had no idea where she stood.  
Sighing, she rapped smartly on the door.  
A few minutes later, it opened to reveal Lucas.  
Correction: a _shirtless_ Lucas.  
She stared for a few seconds before she realized what she was doing.  
"Hey," she started.  
"Hey," he replied, scratching his head and looking at her in obvious confusion. "Did I miss something?"  
"Lucas, I need you," she said, trying a different angle. "Peyton completely backed out on me, and tomorrow night is the beach party, and I can't set up for it by myself."  
"Beach party?"  
"Oh, come on! You know, the one I host at the end of every summer? This is our last one before we're seniors! Why doesn't anyone care?"  
"Okay, okay, calm down," he said, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "I'll help you, Brooke."  
"Really?" she asked, taken aback.  
"Sure," he replied, chuckling. "What do I have to do?"  
She stepped around him into his room and rifled through his drawers. "Cover yourself up, Broody," she said, tossing him a shirt. "We're going out."

The next morning, Lucas squinted at his alarm clock. 9:30.  
He groaned. Brooke had ordered him to be up and dressed by 9, and when she realized he wasn't even out of bed yet—  
His phone rang, and he knew it was Brooke without bothering to check the caller ID.  
"Hey, Brooke, I—"  
"Luke."  
He heard her voice and all thoughts of apologizing flew out of his head.  
"Brooke, what is it? What's wrong?"  
"I'm sorry, I—" she stopped and paused for a minute. "I can't make it tonight, Luke."  
"What do you mean, you can't make it tonight? This whole bonfire thing was your idea. You can't just back out."  
"I'm really sorry," Brooke repeated, her voice shaking. "I have to go back to California for a little while. I'll talk to you later."  
"Brooke—"  
But he was cut off by the sound of the operator. He snapped his phone shut in frustration and rolled out of bed, slipping on some shoes and pulling on a shirt before grabbing his keys.

Three minutes later, he pulled up to Brooke's apartment. Her car was gone, but he ran to the front door anyway, banging on it until his fists were sore.  
"Brooke!" he yelled, trying the knob. "Brooke, come on, open up!"  
Groaning, he slumped down on the front step, shaking out his hands. He sighed and flipped open his phone, dialing Brooke's number before trying the only other person who would know where she was.  
"Luke?"  
"Peyton, where is she?"  
"Look, I can't—"  
"Peyton," he repeated, making sure she understood how serious he was. "Where's Brooke?"  
"California."  
"I know that," Lucas said sharply. "Peyton, if you don't—"  
"Her parents died, Lucas."  
He opened and closed his mouth a few times, his heart dropping somewhere past his stomach.  
"I tried to get her to calm down before she left, but she was a mess," Peyton started.  
"H—how?"  
"Car accident."  
He tried to register what she was telling him and failed miserably.  
"How could she just…leave by herself like that?"  
"You don't know Brooke like I do. When she gets upset—I mean really upset—she'd just…rather be alone. She has to work through this on her own."  
"She can't just fly to California without going with somebody! Not when she's as upset as she sounded on the phone."  
"Well, she did, Luke, and I don't know what you want me to tell you. Don't act like you're the only one that cares about Brooke, okay?"  
He sighed. "I'm sorry. But she just left, and I can't help her…"  
"You can't always save everybody, Luke."  
After a few minutes, he hung up. He'd never felt so completely helpless.

Haley James-Scott pushed the sheet music away from her in frustration. All summer it had been like this. She'd found herself close to something—close to what she'd found on the tour. But then she realized it didn't really mean as much as she thought it would, and the moment passed.  
She let her head rest on the desk in the guest room at Lucas's. After Nathan left for High Flyers, she had had no choice but to ask Karen and Lucas for a room. Her own parents were gone; the apartment was up for sale; and there was no way in hell she was even going to attempt to stay with the Scotts.  
In a few minutes, she was slowly drifting to sleep when the door opened.  
"Lucas?" she asked groggily. "What's up?"  
"It's Brooke," he answered hoarsely. She slowly stood up, a sick feeling settling in the pit of her stomach.  
"What are you talking about? Is she okay?"  
He shook his head, and she wrapped her arms around him.  
"It's her parents. They're…they're dead, Hales."  
She gasped softly and hugged him tighter.

Later that night, Lucas was asleep on her bed. She carefully covered him with a blanket and sat down in her desk chair. He'd been quiet and desperate by turns, dialing almost every digit of Brooke's number before hanging up.  
She hadn't seen Brooke since they'd come to New York to see her, and even then they hadn't spent much time together. But if the way Lucas had acted was any indication, her best friend was feeling more than friendly toward the raven-haired cheerleader. Not to mention the fact that Haley _did_ like Brooke, in relatively small dosages. She knew Brooke had almost ruined her and Nathan (before she did it herself), but she had gotten to know Brooke better. She came across as…well, a bimbo, but Haley knew there was more there.  
Haley looked at her own phone and considered calling Brooke, but quickly decided against it. She was going through enough already; she didn't need random teenaged wives-turned-singers calling her at all hours of the night.  
Curling up as comfortably as she could, Haley James-Scott drifted off to sleep, hoping, as she had each night for the past three months, that the next day would be better than the last.


End file.
